How do people run out of food stamps?

[Ggbwg]

A few other thing to keep in mind.

Some parts of the country do not have places where they can double or triple coupon...which makes it much harder to whittle down your food total to amazing amounts.

Some walgreens do not have the capability of doing food stamps.

When my DH first lost his job....I didn't have coupons at the time, nor did I have the money for a Sunday paper...I also had little money for gas...so instead I bought generics and basically got as many cheap meals that I could for what I had.

Sometimes in the situation you do the best that you can...and now that I have lived it I refuse to think badly of someone unless I know them and really know the situation. It's very hard to use your EBT card and know that people are snickering and judging you in the background.

I know there are places that do not doule coupons, i live here where they don't. Yes, that too makes it harder for them i agree. Also, i am aware of people getting made fun of and judged. Example, i use my Debit card and it is a US bank card. It somewhat resembles an EBT card. When i get things dirt cheap sometimes the cashier will say are you putting it on your EBT card ? I just no this is my debit card.

[shannon1189]

For myself and my daughter we only get $40.00 a month. I was laid off work 2 weeks ago. I have been trying to learn everything I can on coupons to see if it will help some. My check from unemployment is not much. I spend more than $40 on groceries but I also do not expect everything for free. I have been matching coupons with the sales so far so good.

[ivegot3]

I get stamps...and yes - it seems like I get a little more than I really need. Especially since I get postpartum WIC.. It has always been that way. I have even told DHS they should give me less because I don't need them - I coupon, etc. Even though we have not the greatest stores around here...I manage to catch some good deals at Wal-mart, anyway....she told me they can't do that..and that I should buy a deep freezer. So that is what I did. And I started stockpiling.

When I have bought what we NEED for the month...and have some leftover I will stockpile unless I know of a family/friend that is having a rough month financially that doesn't qualify for stamps or is still waiting to recieve them. I take them grocery shopping with my extra stamps. To me that is the most moral thing to do with what really is the result of taxpayer dollars. Now, I pay a lot of income tax because of my part time self-employment work...but I don't think that gives me the right to sell off my stamps. I think its best to be charitable with them instead. Lots of decent income homes will sometimes hit a rough patch you know?

I get looked at funny too when I use my EBT card...especially if I allow my child to get a treat such as a Nestle bar that is 3/$1. It makes me want to smack the cashier because frankly - it is only .33 cent candy bar and the only one that child is going to get the whole month! I don't abuse my stamps and I spend hours upon hours clipping coupons and searching for deals to make my stamps stretch as far as possible so that I don't have to go to a food bank and what not. I was fortunate to have learned how to make a buck stretch by being the grocery shopper once I was a teen - and in my mom's house - she had 6 kids and some grandkids to support on only a 50-75 dollar a week budget (no stamps!). I learned then how to shop.

You know for WIC they have classes now for you to take about healthy meal planning etc. They should ENFORCE all stamp recievers to take a class on how to use their stamps properly to get the most of their buck. THey should teach them how to shop etc.

[ivegot3]

When I have bought what we NEED for the month...and have some leftover I will stockpile unless I know of a family/friend that is having a rough month financially that doesn't qualify for stamps or is still waiting to recieve them. I take them grocery shopping with my extra stamps. To me that is the most moral thing to do with what really is the result of taxpayer dollars. Now, I pay a lot of income tax because of my part time self-employment work...but I don't think that gives me the right to sell off my stamps. I think its best to be charitable with them instead. Lots of decent income homes will sometimes hit a rough patch you know?

This is especially the case in the last year...I have friends/family where the wife always stayed home with the kids because the husband made enough and then suddenly he has been laid off - could only find a min wage job if that...we don't have a lot of employment opps here...its heart wrenching to walk into their homes and see the kids eating a PB sandwich for dinner because it is the only thing they have. I take them shopping or load up 'care packages' from my stockpile.

[ivegot3]

For myself and my daughter we only get $40.00 a month. I was laid off work 2 weeks ago. I have been trying to learn everything I can on coupons to see if it will help some. My check from unemployment is not much. I spend more than $40 on groceries but I also do not expect everything for free. I have been matching coupons with the sales so far so good.

It would seem like DHS would adjust your stamps since you have been laid off. Have you contacted them?

[nannabownanna]

Maybe this is a dumb question but I was reading articles online about people trying to live on FS. There are projects where families challenge themselves to try and live like they are on FS to see if they can make it. A relative recently had to go on food stamps and told me she gets $200 a month. After her baby is born she will get $367. We were discussing how ridiculously high those amounts seem. It only costs about $120 a month to feed one person w/o coupons. Besides the food stamps she already gets more stuff from WIC: cereal, milk, juice, even carrots and tuna. And $367 for a mom and new baby?! What?! The baby will get breast milk or formula which is covered under WIC. I don't get it. Even prior to couponing, I could shop sales and Aldi's or Save-A-Lot and spend $100 a month for myself. With coupons I feed myself on $60 a month. If I were forced to spend $200 a month on food I could get organic and fresh seafood!

I knew someone else who had a family of three, two of them qualified for food stamps but with careful shopping (no coupons) she could feed all three people on food stamps meant for two people and still have stamps left over. So how is it people run out and need to rely on churches/food banks? My relative actually intends to sell off her excess FS.

I'm just wondering why the govt makes the allotments so high. I know in certain places the cost of living is higher and some people don't have cars which can make it very difficult to get to sales but dang! Seems like the amounts should be corrected for cost of food in your area. Seems strange that one chart serves the entire country too!

Allotments for households in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia
1 $ 200
2 $ 367
3 $ 526
4 $ 668
5 $ 793
6 $ 952
7 $ 1,052
8 $ 1,202
Each additional person... $ 150

I guess I am the only one here to find your post rude and insulting.
First, I would LOVE to see your menu plan for an entire month on $60.

I live in Ga and there is NO way I could feed myself on that and actually have 3 meals a day. UNLESS I was an extreme couponer, which I am.

I have a very small income, $600 per month, and my 18 yr old dd, lives at home with me. She works part time and makes about $300 per month.
She wants to work fulltime but can not find a ft job.
From our income, I pay $800 per month for rent, lights, phone, car ins, gas and toiletries.

We get $100 per month in FS.

So, if you can feed a family of 2 well on that every month, please, by all means, share the info with me!

Just my 2 cents worth!

[CW&M Mom]

For myself and my daughter we only get $40.00 a month. I was laid off work 2 weeks ago. I have been trying to learn everything I can on coupons to see if it will help some. My check from unemployment is not much. I spend more than $40 on groceries but I also do not expect everything for free. I have been matching coupons with the sales so far so good.

Those may go higher...once they are not counting your income before you lost your job. Be sure to call them before the end of the month with your unemployment total...and see if it adjust things.

[shaeharbin]

I would just also like to mention that in some places you must pay taxes on the coupons when you use FS. It has to come out of your own pocket. I remember one time I went to the store to get a few things and I had to have them remove the coupon because I had no money with me. So if your using a ton of coupons that will add up, probably not to a huge amount but it may be more than they have. Just a thought.

[Links2me]

I guess I am the only one here to find your post rude and insulting.

No, you're not alone.


DH was laid off at the end of last year and we received FS when I applied for Medicaid for the kids. We received $403 dollars per month for 6 months for 5 people. (3 adults, two kids) I'd been heavily couponing for a while and was in the mode of just replenishing a stockpile each month when the FS started. I did not change the way I shopped and still spent every dime of that money plus some.

According to your chart we should have received 793 dollars, yet in reality received 403. This is with NO income. I think that chart may be just a little flawed.

[tmsmalley]

I noticed that although the chart of how much people can get was published, this portion was not:

Benefits-
The amount of benefits the household gets is called an allotment. The net monthly income of the household is multiplied by .3, and the result is subtracted from the maximum allotment for the household size to find the household's allotment. This is because SNAP households are expected to spend about 30 percent of their resources on food.

So, in the example they give, if you have a family of 4 with a monthly gross income of $2050 and a net of $1154 (based on the things that they deduct to arrive at "net"), you then multiply by .3 and deduct from the total amount- so they don't get $668, they get $321. That net of $1154, has to pay rent, utilities, medical co-pays, transportation, toilet paper, dish soap, shampoo... and whatever food the $321 doesn't cover for a family of 4 adults. That's a stretch for most people in any location.

Fact Sheet on Resources, Income, and Benefits

Tess